After a year in the priesthood

By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | You spend years learning liturgy, studying the Bible, debating theology, interning at a church.

Then one day, you're The Guy. The priest. The one everyone looks up to.

Now, with more than a year under their belts, the archdiocese's three newest priests look back on what they’ve learned since their ordination.

"One thing that amazes me most is how the people of God welcomed me," says Father Fenly Saint-Jean, parochial vicar at St. David Church in Davie.  "After Mass, they shake my hand and congratulate me on my homily.

"They also criticize it, which is good," he adds with a laugh.

Father Ivan Rodriguez finds a tug-of-war between being a "private" person and a priest at St. John the Apostle Church in Hialeah. "I used to read and study at seminary. Now I have to get up and speak. And every Sunday, it has to be new and fresh.

"I thought the priesthood was about the Mass and sacraments," he says. "It's that and much more."

And Father Matias Hualpa, serving at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Miami, says he's learned much in being with dying people and their families.

"If they spend a life giving and loving, they have so much peace," he says. "You can tell in their face, in their body. Same with the family; even if it's hard to see a loved one die, it's a good kind of grieving. Almost a sorrow from heaven."

Vestments and embraces

All three were ordained May 24, 2014 at St. Mary Cathedral. They listened to Archbishop Thomas Wenski's homily from chairs on the sanctuary. One by one, they pledged obedience to him and his successors. Then they lay face down in a posture of submission, as the archbishop and congregation prayed the Litany of the Saints.

Then each knelt as the archbishop laid hands on his head and ordained him, followed by prayers from other priests and bishops in attendance. Finally, they received their vestments as new priests, and embraces from their brother clergy.

Since that day, they have been fathers to thousands: children, middle-aged adults, even those old enough to be their grandparents. Yes, that can feel odd.

Father Rodriguez agrees that it "feels weird" to be called Father by the elderly�many of whom attend St. John the Apostle. "Sometimes, if they want, they call me Ivan. But they still look up to me as Father."

Myriad duties at church

Once at their parishes, the newly minted priests plunged into the myriad duties of Church life. Sharing Mass schedules with their pastors. Visiting hospitals and parochial school classes. Officiating at funerals. Hearing confession and counseling engaged couples. Writing and speaking on theology, apologetics, Bible study. Attending school plays, concerts and field trips.

Yes, they served as deacons during their seminary education. They also served a “pastoral year” at around the halfway point of their studies. But it's different when you're The Guy. Then, whatever happens, it's on you.

"I feel the responsibility," says Father Hualpa. "Before, I could say, 'Talk to the priest.' Now I can't say that."

Their hours per week? The question brings a laugh.

"At any moment, something could come up, like a sick call in the middle of the night," Father Fenly says. "I know what I'm called to do: be available to the people."

Father Rodriguez mentions a two-day period when he visited two funeral homes, said evening Mass and took two confessions.

"Sometimes it makes you tired physically," he acknowledges. "But it's like 'degustar.' Like when you taste a steak and it's really good.

"As much as I give myself, I receive more. This is what I was ordained for."

He enjoys face time with individuals, especially in counseling. "It's like the Lord inspires me to say things when I have no idea what to say."

It isn't always an emergency, as Father Hualpa says. Sometimes, people just want to be with a priest.

"When people invite me to bless their home, that takes five minutes," he says. "But then they invite me to dinner. That's the fun part. I get to know the family. That's not work for me. That's just being the Father."

Fathers to the Fathers

The men can also lean on their pastors for guidance, advice, mentoring. Father Saint-Jean was lucky: His pastor at St. David is Father Steven O'Hala, who also led St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Pompano Beach, during his pastoral year.

"Father O'Hala is very nurturing," he says. "If I have any questions, I can always ask him."

For Father Saint-Jean, the eye-opener has been the intensity of people's travails. Broken relationships in families. A woman caring for a sick mother. Tensions between sisters.

"Many people out there are hurting, (but) before I became a priest, this window was not open to me," he says. "I knew they were suffering, but when they came and explained it to me, that was an eye-opener.

"Sometimes, there has been nothing I could do. They just needed someone to listen."

Seminarians often dream about the priesthood and what ministry they'd like most to get into. For Father Hualpa, he's in it: working with couples and families. He reviews premarital inventories and talks to couples three or four times before weddings.

"I want to make sure they're ready for the sacrament, make sure they understand what they're undertaking," he says. "Not just to be ready for a wedding dress and a big party.

"And when they become a family, I can support them in whatever they need. Like when they have doubts in their faith, or a child is not coming to church."

In turn, the couples are an encouragement to him, he says. "They nourish my vocation as a priest (because) they do a lot of work for the church. If they can do that as a married couple, I have to do my part as a priest.

"That's why I like to be friends with families that live their faith."

Where it all comes alive

But the Mass itself�that's where the priesthood comes alive for them.

"I always feel a joy saying the Mass," Father Saint-Jean says. "I remember reading, 'Always say the Mass like it's your first.' I'm like that. It might be my fourth of the weekend, but on the fourth, I always find a joy."

Homilies are Father Rodriguez's favorite part of the Mass. "For me, the homily is the crucial point between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. You proclaim the good news: the love that God has for you, a love that is fulfilled in Christ."

He's convinced that when he ascends to the pulpit, God has individual souls in mind.

"I have in front of me maybe 400 people, but God wants to save one," Father Rodriguez says. "If that one believes through my preaching, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside him. He could be changed that day."

Father Hualpa says he keeps in mind the importance of every part of the Mass. He sees it as one big prayer.

"As a priest, you bring together the celebration. It's a gift from God," he says. "All the parts of the Mass, all the things we say, comprise prayers. It is the most perfect prayer in the Church."

And there are those mystical moments when the men glimpse the truths they preach and teach. Like when Father Rodriguez visited a hospital-bound woman in her last moments.

"Christ is risen; do not be afraid," he said as he anointed her. "Eternal life is waiting for us."

Less than a minute later, the woman died.

"It was like she was just waiting for the anointing," Father Rodriguez says, his eyes widening. "I know I can't save anyone. But the Lord uses me to bring salvation to people."